


don't hug me i'm scared

by netherfriends



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: Fenton is too pure, Fluff and Angst, Gyro has trauma, M/M, Scared of the dark due to childhood trauma, also we don't support gyro's mom here, and gyro is the leader, flustered gyro, ha ha nerdy gays go brr, i had to get rid of the "can be read as platonic" tag because it wasn't true anymore, it's a club now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-10
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:00:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27094687
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/netherfriends/pseuds/netherfriends
Summary: Gyro bit on his hand to stop the whimpers from escaping his beak. Maybe his coworker would just move along and it'd be fine-"Sir?"Shit.ORgyro is afraid of the dark
Relationships: Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera/Gyro Gearloose
Comments: 14
Kudos: 112





	don't hug me i'm scared

**Author's Note:**

> i love this baby boy so much why haven't i written anything for him yet this is a crime
> 
> (also, note that his backstory does not line up with his canon one whatsoever in this fic so please don't comment about how i didn't mention someone or how this isn't true or somethin')

Gyro was afraid of the dark. 

This is rather ridiculous, Gyro Gearloose, an inventor of Mcduck Enterprises, a fully grown man, afraid of the dark.

He just didn't like it, it spread around him, squashing him in. Suffocating him till he was so close to death and would honestly prefer that than this overwhelming suffering. It reminded him of his childhood, his family pushing and pushing at him-

It gave him bad memories.

He never told anyone of his (irrational, in his mind) fear. After all, if he was afraid of something as little (it wasn't little, it was everywhere) as the dark then he would be mocked, and well he would rather not be childish. 

Gyro would dare not buy a nightlight, no matter how efficient that would be. He was an adult, he didn't need a nightlight.

(When he was younger, about 7 or so, his mother had gotten rid of his nightlight saying that he was "too old for it" now. He had silently cried the whole night, choking on his sobs as the darkness strangled him.)

Instead he would just keep a electronic on, or a flashlight. This was more easily explained when he stayed overnight at the lab (which was quite often) because the power always shut down around 10pm. He would normally fall asleep somehow while working and therefore did not have to deal with the troubles of the dark.

(Of course, keeping on electronics for light often drained his battery a lot, so he made sure to have a charger near all the time.)

\--

Gyro was at work, scribbling away at something when it happened. The lights flickered once, and then twice, and then finally shut off completely and left the room enveloped in darkness. He could hear Fenton muttering something but Gyro was too focused on the darkness. He shrunk down, completely forgetting that his phone was right there. God, it was daytime where he was safe from the darkness, this wasn't supposed to happen-

"Dr. Gearloose!? I can't see you!"

If Gyro wasn't afraid of the dark he would've snorted, of course he couldn't see him because it was completely dark! But right now he didn't dare alert Fenton of his location. Somehow, he had slunk under his desk and was now rocking loosely. Tears pricked his vision and he knew he was breathing too heavy because his ears couldn't help but focus on that sound solely-

Gyro bit on his hand to stop the whimpers from escaping his beak. Maybe Fenton would think that he had managed to move out of the area and he would just move along and it'd be fine-

"Sir?"

Shit.

Gyro's panicked eyes moved upwards to greet Fenton. Shit, shit, shit this wasn't supposed to _happen_. He was too vulnerable, too vulnerable-

He shifted away when Fenton sat next to him. He took his hand out of his mouth as it was no use anymore to be quiet. The silence stretched on for too long, the darkness was clouding his mind again. He needed a light, a light-

"Sir..can I hold your hand?"

Oh look, a light.

Gyro let out a shaky laugh trying not to focus too much on how weak it sounded.

"Really?" He managed with only a small tremble.

"Well, yeah, maybe..maybe it'll help." Gyro couldn't tell while it was dark but Fenton was flashing him a smile.

Gyro turned away from Fenton but his fingers shook as they intertwined themselves with Fenton's. Surprisingly enough, some of the darkness cleared as though they were pushed back by something. Gyro breathed out again, eyes closing.

The lights turned back on a couple seconds later and Gyro didn't stop and ponder when his fingers lingered when letting go of Fenton's hand.

\--

They never did really talk about that moment (or maybe it was Fenton trying to communicate with Gyro and him ignoring it) and Gyro would much rather keep it that way. He didn't want to explain what had happened, why he had been so weak at that moment. (Although he suspected that Fenton already somewhat knew.)

\--

Gyro shuddered, bringing his coat closer to himself. He scowled and lowered his head so that he wouldn't accidentally make eye contact with anyone. He _had_ just gone to get groceries but the place was closed. Welp, guess he'll just starve.

"Sir?"

Crap, he had the worst luck.

Gyro looked up to see Fenton standing there looking like a confused puppy.

"Right. Hi." Gyro internally winced, not his best work.

"What are you doing out here? I thought you..." _I thought you were a antisocial shutdown._

Gyro shrugged, "groceries."

He began walking again, Fenton now beside him. He didn't hate it as much as he should've.

Fenton had started to ramble and Gyro was only half-listening. He only started paying attention when Fenton stopped.

He turned, ready to ask what the holdup was before Fenton's hand came out and moved something from his hair. Gyro froze, staring at Fenton.

"There was a leaf in your hair, sir." Fenton laughed, and it was nice.

( ~~Everything about Fenton was really nice.~~ )

\--

"Fenton, where are we going?" Gyro huffed, ducking (hah) under a branch.

Fenton paused and turned back to Gyro with a dopey smile that made Gyro feel warm inside, "you'll see." 

Gyro rolled his eyes but continued following the duck anyway, the leaves crunching beneath his shoes. They were in a forest, not one he in particular knew, stumbling around blindly. Or rather, Gyro was whiles Fenton was leading him somewhere.

"Also, you called me Fenton."

His face heated up and he began spluttering while Fenton just laughed, waving a hand back at him. His eyes twinkled, "it's fine sir."

Gyro patted at his face, hoping that would make his blush go away. "Yeah, yeah whatever."

Fenton seemed amused at this before turning back to the front.

Once his face seemed to calm down, Gyro looked up noticing that the sky was getting lighter, a telltale sign that the sunset would come soon. Why did he let that idiot drag him out here while it was so late?

Soon they stumbled out of the forest towards a cliff, where Fenton sat down at the edge and then patted the spot next to him. "Come, sit."

Begrudgingly, Gyro sat down next to Fenton, his eyes drawn to his coworker. He snapped out of his gaze when Fenton spoke up, "oh! Here it is!"

Gyro turned his head towards the sky where colors of red, orange and yellow clashed and swarmed into each other. Gyro's breathe was taken away, eyes lighting up. He then turned towards Fenton.

His eyes twinkled and the light on the sky reflected off of him. He had faint freckles, ones that you could only really see if you were up close. Gyro leaned away, realizing how close he was, his face warming up. Fenton turned towards, a gentle smile playing on his beak as the colors in the sky began to lighten up into a more grey color.

"We ought to go, before it gets dark, sir." Later, Gyro would realize that he was doing this because he _had_ noticed his fear of the dark.

"Gyro."

"What?"

Gyro turned away from Fenton, hoping above all things that his face wasn't as warm as the rest of his body was.

"I said Gyro, you can- you can just call me that." His mind screamed at him, god what was he doing, idiot idiot idiot-

If Gyro's mind wasn't playing tricks on him it seemed as though Fenton's smile brightened. He stood up, brushing himself off and then held out a hand.

"Well then Gyro, would you like to get going?"

Gyro gulped and then grasped his hand, letting Fenton tug himself up.

"Sure." He didn't even notice when his hand rested in Fenton's for a second longer than normal.

\--

_"Help, help.." Gyro mumbled, dragging his knees closer to himself. His voice was hoarse from yelling, even though he knew that no one would come._

_He shut his eyes but that just brought the darkness closer to him. He hated being locked in the closet, where it was so dark. There was no light coming from anywhere, not even some peaking underneath the door._

_Tears pricked his eyes and he choked down his sob. Last time his mom caught him crying he hadn't been let out until almost nighttime. Since then he tried to make sure never to cry, and if he did, then do it quietly._

_Technically, he could get out. He was certainly smart_ _enough to where a lock didn't stop him. But last time when he had unlocked the door and tried to sneak away his mother had slapped him. Hard. The sting was there for more than a couple minutes and the mark shown clearly against his skin. His mother had told him before he had gone to school to tell anyone who asked about it that one of his inventions had blown up in his face. Which was pretty believable given how often they did blow up._

_Going in the closet was something that he should've been used to, as his mother often got angry (whether it be at him or not) and locked him in the closet. But he still wasn't used to it, being shoved forcefully in there while he gave out panicked apologies while often times not even knowing why he should be apologizing. The darkness surrounded him, digging their way into his mind and overwhelming all of his senses._

_His hands gripped his side, fingers digging into his ribs._

_He dug his head into the carpet and banged it over and over again hoping that the pain would be so overwhelming that the darkness would just fly over his head. But it didn't, instead it grabbed him and squeezed and squeezed and squeezed until Gyro popped._

_"Oh, you are **so** gonna get it now boy!" The door opened revealing his mother standing above him, face constructed to a expression of pure rage._

_Gyro cried out, he hadn't meant to be that loud. "Wait, no pl-_

-ease!" Gyro cried out, shooting out in his bed. He panted, hands clutching his arms so hard that it'll surely leave marks. His eyes flitted about in pure dread, god oh no the light was off the light was off-

His hand shot out and turned on the lamp next to his bed. With the light now glowing over his form, the tension left his body. He slumped against the backboard of his bed and closed his eyes, his dream replaying itself in his mind. He shuddered, remembering how the darkness had completely overtook him.

He didn't open his eyes, struck with the fear that if he opened them he would see his mother seething with rage.

It was a bad night.

Gyro carded a hand through his hair and struggled to regain his composure.

Breathe in. _One, two, three..._

Breathe out. _Four, five, six._

And repeat. He did this until he was no longer shaking and tears weren't constantly threatening to come out of his eyes. He opened his eyes again, and laid back down. He turned to turn the lamp off but hesitated, eyes flickering over the light, before leaning back and not turning the light off.

His electric bill will probably bite him in the ass.

\--

Gyro hadn't really questioned it when Fenton asked to meet up later that day. By now he had gotten used to the other duck's presence enough (which was strange, thinking of how much he had disliked him at first) to where it wasn't as weird as it would've been. And well, Gyro prided himself on being observant but even he had to admit he didn't notice the looks Fenton gave him or how nervous he had seemed when asking him.

The sun was set to start going down in only a couple of hours and Gyro was trudging outside to meet his coworker at the park. Perhaps Fenton had to talk to him about Gizmoduck or something. He had mentioned that there was something going wrong with the suit lately.

(Of course, the more rational part of Gyro knew that if it was that, he wouldn't have asked him to meet up. Especially in a place not relatively near the lab. Still, Gyro always did like lying to himself.)

Gyro took in the sight of his ( ~~friend? coworker? or something more?~~ ), thumbs fiddling with themselves in a nervous manner. Finally, Fenton looked up and spotted Gyro and a small smile came across his face, replacing the once nervous look he had held. Gyro's heart skipped along like a nervous middle schooler with a crush. ACK, stupid feelings crushing him inside-

"Hi."

Gyro managed a smile, although he was sure it looked weird. "Hi."

Fenton came up to him and grabbed his hand, dragging him to sit on a bench. Between those few seconds Gyro had completely froze, senses more focused on the duck holding his hand.

Fenton had turned to look at the sky, looking almost angelic. His hand was still holding onto Gyro's, and the feeling was threatening to burn him alive. Finally, Fenton turned to him and his face turned more nervous. He fully turned his body to Gyro's, hand still grasping his like a lifelong. He didn't seem to notice.

Fenton's eyes flickered over Gyro's face, seemingly taking in every detail. Now, Gyro was getting more nervous with the stretched silence.

"Gyro, we need to talk."

Gyro tensed, his body screaming at him to _movegetoutoftherewhatareyouDOINGgetoutgetoutgetOUT_ -

He swallowed tensely, even though his throat was dry. They both knew what he meant by that.

Fenton squeezed Gyro's hand, although he didn't know why. To ground him? To make sure he didn't run away? ~~Or maybe, maybe something else-~~

"I- okay." Gyro could've ran way right then and there, left behind his coworker. If he ran he could avoid talking about what had happened, could avoid his past for longer. Yet, he was still there. Why was he still there?

"Listen, I don't want to pressure you to share too much. But we need to at least _talk_ about it. I think it'll help both of us." Gyro turned away and instead slumped on the bench, gaze torn to the sky. Before Fenton, he hadn't liked the sky too much. He had no idea why it was so beautiful. Now though, every time he looked at the sky he was reminded of Fenton.

"I'm afraid of the dark." He waited for Fenton to laugh, to snort and say 'no duh'. He waited for something bad to happen because something bad _always_ happened to Gyro when he got close to someone. Instead, Fenton was still next to him, patiently waiting for him to say more. Or nothing at all. It made Gyro almost want to cry. _Almost_.

He continued on, finding no point in stopping now. "My mom, she locked me in the closet. A lot. It was always so dark in there, it reminded me of how angry she got sometimes." He heard Fenton let out a small gasp but he didn't stop talking. "She hit me sometimes, when she was really angry. Normally when she was just normal angry, whether it be at me or not, she would just lock me in the closet. But when she was _really_ angry..."

"Well, it wasn't pretty." He turned to Fenton, expecting to see disgust or pity, or maybe even humor. ' _You're horrible to everyone, you deserved that._ ' And he would've agreed, even if it broke him inside that it came from Fenton. It's fine, he had been pushing away people for so long that doing it to him wouldn't be so hard.

Instead, all he saw was concern. Gentle hands came to grasp his and all he saw in Fenton was _care_. Gyro's throat ran dry, years of bottled up emotions threatening to come out of his eyes. 

"Fuck." Gyro wiped his eyes with his hands, turning away from Fenton. This was too vulnerable, so why wasn't he regretting telling Fenton all of that?

Fenton was hugging him now and Gyro stopped trying to wipe away his tears. And by _god_ did it feel so good to cry. It had been hammered in since he was little that crying was a weakness, that if he was too vulnerable someone would rip him apart and leave him for dead. That crying meant giving in, giving up, showing that he was weak.

Instead, right now it felt for the first time like he was actually alive.

\--

Maybe a couple minutes passed, maybe seconds, maybe hours, but finally Gyro pulled away from Fenton's embrace. He felt an apology rising from him, about crying, telling him all this, hell getting snot on his shirt, but it died down when Fenton looked at him as though he would endure all his childhood pain, carry the burden of his troubles and do it all again for him. He found that all he wanted to do was kiss him.

But the scene right now was not typically movie magic kiss. Gyro with his bloodshot eyes and a snotty nose looking like he had got ran over by two trucks and then they had backtracked and ran over him again. Of course Fenton looked perfect ~~as always~~ and would totally fit to be in a movie kissing someone more...perfect. Less him.

So instead of listening to his head, Gyro leaned against the bench, the metal design digging into his spine. He didn't move, didn't even breathe when he felt a weight land on his shoulder. If Fenton were awake Gyro definitely knew that he would hear how fast his heart was going. Instead, he looked blankly into the sky, wind brushing his hair. Despite himself, he found his hand scratching Fenton's scalp gently. It seemed to soothe the duck, even if he was asleep, and he relaxed further against Gyro.

Fenton was definitely going to get cramps in his neck in that position but if he were to move him to make him more comfortable Fenton's head would be laying on _his_ chest and this was already overstepping every rule he had set up for himself in the years that had taken to him building up walls to hide behind. So Fenton would just have to have a sore neck.

(A couple minutes later Gyro had to wake up Fenton because 'start running as fast as you can because it's fucking pouring' and Fenton immediately asked why the hell his neck hurt so much. Whoops.)

\--

"I- yeah, this is a bad idea, I'll just come back another day so-" Fenton grabbed his hand and dragged him back with a sigh. Back to stand in front of his childhood home. Which he knew for a fact was currently holding his mother. Gyro squeezed his eyes shut until he could see stars.

"Hey, hey. You can do this. I'll be with you the whole time, and hey if something goes shitty? We can just go back to your place and eat ice cream and then sue her for something." Gyro rolled his eyes and gave him a gentle push.

"Weirdo."

Still, Gyro turned towards the house and took a deep breathe. When Fenton's hand found his he gave a grateful squeeze and pushed the door open. They had knocked before but there was no answer so breaking and entering is probably fine if you're related to the person who lives there.

The place was oddly silent, something that didn't sound right to Gyro. When he used to live here there was always sound, whether it be his mother's moods, some party happening outside his line of vision, or just the sound of rain dripping through the cracks in the ceiling, there would always be sound. He continued on, eyes searching through every part of the house. Seeing what was different and what was the same.

The floorboards in the kitchen had been changed, though not for the better. There were more candles hanging around. And beer bottles. And broken things, whether it be a wall or a vase or just anything there would a missing piece of it. Seems like after Gyro left there was no one that she could take her rage out on.

Then suddenly there was a sound, a buzzing static. It was coming from the living room and the two were already there before Gyro could comprehend it. And unmistakably, there was his mother. (If you could call her that.)

She was sitting in a chair, rapidly pressing buttons on a remote pointed towards a square TV with a hole in the center. She didn't notice the presence of two more people and muttered to herself about how, 'why isn't this stupid remote working'.

"Mother?" The room stilled, and it was back to being silent. It was never good when mother was silent, because it meant that something unexpected was going to happen.

"Gyro?" His mother stood up, her hair grey with age, slightly limping. Her eyes swept over Gyro, and then to Fenton. 

Gyro took a step back when she moved forward.

His mother turned around, her breathing getting faster. Fenton squeezed his hand, and Gyro knew it was time to leave.

Wordlessly, the two made their way backwards, all the while keeping an eye on the chicken. Suddenly, she turned around, her eyes wide open in destranged madness.

" **You. Left. Me.** " She charged at the two and they instantly bolted away, trying to get to the door. She was clearly in a state of insanity, barreling over furniture.

Fenton was repeating shit to himself and Gyro seriously regretted the choice of leaving the suit at the lab. Gyro pushed the door open, panting and sucking in the fresh air.

Finally, he registered the absence of his companion.

"Fenton!?" He turned to the house, which looked looming now. He didn't waste a second before charging right inside. His mother ( ~~monster~~ ) had Fenton up against a wall, with his wrists held down. His mother looked less sane than ever and he could see the glisten of a knife in her hand.

He searched desperately for something that he could possibly harm her with, until his eyes caught on a shovel. Not much but it'll have to do. He grabbed it and with a mighty swing, brought it down on her head.

Her face broke out into a surprised expression, before she fell to the ground with a thump. Gyro poked her once, and then twice, just to check if she would spring up and attack. Nothing.

He dropped the shovel and helped Fenton to his feet, who he could tell was shaking. Gyro tried not to look at the knife, shining as brightly as ever.

"Fuck, I'm sorry that you had to go through that. I didn't know she would..." Gyro took in a deep breath. "Are you okay?" He scanned Fenton for injuries, and was relieved to see that there were none except for a slight red tinge on his wrists.

"I'm fine, just a little shaken 'tis all." Fenton sighed and turned away from Gyro's mother's unconscious form.

The two exited the house, hand in hand. They continued to walk, only really a murmur spoken here or there. Gyro's mind kept flashing back to the scene, with his mother standing over Fenton. With a _knife_. It was shined, without a speck of dust on it. And he could easily imagine blood covering the knife. _Fenton's_ blood.

Fenton squeezed his hand, as though he knew what he was thinking, and he felt a little bit better.

Soon enough, they stopped outside the lab, which was halfway from Fenton's house.

"I think I'll make the rest of the back on my own." Fenton turned to Gyro and gave him a gentle smile, squeezing his hands and then letting them drop. he then turned away and adapted a slightly nervous look.

And before he knew it, Fenton had already gone and given him a peck on the cheek and was already walking away from him. Gyro held his cheek in surprise, watching as Fenton turned the corner and disappeared from view.

"Huh," Gyro laughed softly as a gleeful smile lit up his face.

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be a small drabble what happened-  
> aah, not sure if i'm okay with what i wrote but i'm not gonna rewrite it so whatever.


End file.
